Photovoltaic (PV) cells, commonly known as solar cells, are devices for conversion of solar radiation into electrical energy. Generally, solar radiation impinging on the surface of, and entering into, the substrate of a solar cell creates electron and hole pairs in the bulk of the substrate. The electron and hole pairs migrate to p-doped and n-doped regions in the substrate, thereby creating a voltage differential between the doped regions. The doped regions are connected to the conductive regions on the solar cell to direct an electrical current from the cell to an external circuit. When PV cells are combined in an array such as a PV module, the electrical energy collected from all of the PV cells can be combined in series and parallel arrangements to provide power with a certain voltage and current.
Module-level power electronics (MLPE) serve and support PV cells and PV systems. MLPEs may include microinverters and system supervisors or controllers. Microinverters provide certain features in these multi-part systems, particularly when used in an alternating current (AC) module. Microinverters themselves may include several subsystems to accomplish the functionality needed to provide these features.